BOSTON—A week in which residents in and around this city were whipsawed by grief, fear, anger and uncertainty took a somewhat surreal turn as a dragnet for the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect effectively paralyzed the region until his capture late Friday.

After a bloody Thursday night punctuated by a shootout and police chase, area residents awoke Friday to a region on lockdown, with many ordered to stay indoors and not answer their doors for anyone but the police.

A developing timeline of the Boston Marathon bombing and subsequent suspect manhunt.

Essay

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority shut down the greater-Boston subway system, and Amtrak suspended rail service in and out of the city. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a no-fly zone over parts of the area including Watertown, where the manhunt was centered, and police stopped cars at roadblocks as they entered Logan International Airport. Businesses were closed and taxi service suspended.

As helicopters buzzed overhead and thousands of law-enforcement officials scoured huge swaths of the region, residents hunkered down. Reports that police were looking for hidden pipe bombs and that they feared a violent confrontation with the suspect only added to the tension.

Residents who had spent most of the day behind bolted doors came out of their homes and burst into applause upon hearing the news that the 19-year-old suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was taken into custody Friday night. His older brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed earlier in a confrontation with police in Watertown, Mass., according to a U.S. law-enforcement official.

Before the capture, the streets were quiet, with most shops and restaurants shuttered and dark. Police stood on every corner, holding long rifles and quizzing every driver and pedestrian about their intentions.

Map: Boston Area

See the locations of key incidents in the search for the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Terror in the U.S.

In Boston's Kenmore Square, usually a hub of activity and noise, it was so quiet that leaves shaking in a gentle breeze could be heard. Only a handful of people ventured outside.

"I haven't seen it like this since the blizzard in February," said Lisa Horvath, a 32-year-old yoga instructor out for a brief walk with her German shepherd, Eli. "I don't want to be caught up in something stupid because I was dumb and went outside," she said.

Boston's Streets, Quiet Amid Lockdown

The usually busy Kenmore Square in Boston was virtually deserted at lunchtime Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Many financial firms operated with few people in the office or shut down altogether. Eaton Vance Corp. remained open, with employees working from home if they couldn't get in, a spokeswoman said. "We're leaving it up to people to decide what's best for them," she said.

Hospitals in the area, many of them still treating victims of the bombings, cautioned staffers and patients against leaving and delayed discharging patients. At Boston Children's Hospital, the disaster-control team secured the building's perimeter, according to Patricia Branowicki, vice president for medicine and patient services. Security guards from the night staff and Boston police manned every door, allowing no one in without ID.

Because many sick children would be without visitors, staffers called family members to reassure them their children were being well cared for. The hospital's entertainment team kept kids occupied with activities like air hockey.

In Newton, Mass., 53-year-old Ted Liberatos, who drives a truck for Anything Goes Removal Service, said a series of police officers pulled him over three times within a few miles to inspect the back of his truck.

"They're not taking any chances," Mr. Liberatos said. "It's very weird and a little scary."

Tom Kilduff, a U.S. Postal Service worker, arrived at work Friday morning only to find out the routes in the lockdown areas were canceled. Only about half of his fellow employees made it in. "It feels like the day after 9/11. Remember that? No one was out—it was like a ghost town," he said.

His co-worker, Mike Terrio, said he felt haunted by the look on the face of one of the suspects who allegedly dropped a bomb-filled backpack in the crowd during the marathon and walked away. The footage was played repeatedly on television news.

"The thing that's imprinted on my mind is his expression. There's just nothing there, nothing," he said. "How can you just drop a bomb in the middle of a crowd of young kids and walk away?"

Despite the lockdown orders, a crowd gathered at the police blockade set up near the suspects' home in Cambridge. One group took a photo, smiling in front of the police tape.

On nearby Cambridge Street, one of the few open stores, S&S Delicatessen, was serving emergency workers, residents and journalists. "In good times and difficult times people rely on us," said co-owner Gary Mitchell, 55. "We're a fabric of the community."

A scene that unfolded in Watertown on Friday morning illustrated the tense atmosphere. Police pulled over a car with four men in it, and within minutes, three dozen emergency vehicles had converged on the area along with a television news crew. It wasn't the suspect.

ENLARGE

A scene near the suspect's home.
Getty Images

In his house a few hundred yards away, Joe O'Connell, a 29-year-old personal trainer, watched the television coverage and realized it was near his house. He and a few friends went to look.

Mr. O'Connell said he was standing about 100 feet away from the site of the second bomb blast at the marathon. Early Friday morning, the sounds of police chasing suspects into Watertown woke him up. Now, loud noises were making him flinch.

"I'm sick and tired of this," he said. "I've never been this jumpy. I just want it to end."

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